Australia CRC works on China's 700 million pig problem

In collaboration with Chinese technology firm HLM Asia, Australia's CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC Care) has developed a bioreactor to combat the scourge of the Chinese pork industry - pig manure, Reuters reports.

China’s 700 million strong pigs produce 1.4 million tonnes of manure, and 7 million tonnes of urine annually.

The digester utilising the new technology would produce clean energy in the form of biogas.

Only a tenth of China’s pig waste is currently treated, and the price of the nutrients lost in the effluent is worth AUD$50 (€39) a year. A typical Chinese farmer has a monthly wage of AUD$75 (€58).

The bioreactor, called ‘PooCare’ has been running in a trial for about a month now in China, and is estimated to cost €27,500; a price that will go down mass production starts.